“They Feared the Lord, and Served Their Own Gods.” 2 Kings 17: 33
By I. G. Camp
Is it possible for any one to worship the Lord and at the same time be serving their own gods? We cannot be serving the Lord and at the same time worshiping our own gods. For his servants ye are to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness. But it is a lamentable fact that we can have an outward form of worshiping the only living and true God, while we are serving our own gods, the work of our own hands, which our own fingers have made. What an insult to the God that made the heavens and the earth, for us to bow down before him and profess to worship him, and to go in and out with those who do worship God in spirit and in truth, while our hearts are far from him, our affections set on things of the world and not on things above. Is it possible, my dear brethren and sisters, that this is the case with any of us? If so, I pray God to deliver us from it. For hypocrisy is to be abhorred, and self-deception to be feared and dreaded. But we need not be deceived. With all the helps that God has given us, we may know if we are worshiping the Lord and serving our own gods. We cannot deceive ourselves or the people of God but a little while longer. The time is near at hand when they will return and discern between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. I want to be numbered with those who shall worship God in the beauty of holiness.
I. G. CAMP.